Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” Anthony answered for us. “That’d be good. Any idea on when you could have that set up?”
“Probably not today, unfortunately,” he said. “Know you made the trip all the way out here, but I’d have to track the fuckers down.”
“It’s not that long of a commute,” I said, shrugging. “We can come back.”
“I’ll go get on that then,” Elio said, straightening from the wall to open the door. “Nice to meet you, Saylor. Don’t be a stranger,” he said, his gaze doing a quick sweep over me.
It was barely noticeable, honestly.
But a little growling sound rumbled through Anthony in response, making Elio’s brow lift.
“Got it,” he said, then pulled open the door and disappeared.
“Hate that you came all this way and are leaving without anything new to go on,” Gio said, standing. “How about I get you guys some food to make up for it?”
“She’s never gonna turn down a meal,” Anthony said, smiling at me when I glared at him.
“I mean, he’s not wrong,” I admitted.
“Glad to hear it,” he said, heading toward the door as we stood. “Come on out and decide what you want. Ant, you see my sister lately?” he asked as we moved through the back rooms toward the deli front.
“Yeah, saw her and Santi last week. She hasn’t made it out this way in a while?”
“Been busy,” he said, shrugging. “Gotta drag my ass into the city again to visit.”
With that, we moved out in front of the counter, and he stayed behind, washing his hands, then making our sandwiches himself before disappearing to take a phone call.
“His sister?” I asked as Anthony and I took one of the empty tables to eat our roast beef sandwiches with several sides Gio had added without our asking. Including some sort of cold pasta salad with meat and veggies that smelled fucking divine.
“Alessa Morelli married Lorenzo’s brother, Santi,” Anthony explained.
“And who is the ‘Lombardi fuck’ Elio mentioned?”
“Renzo,” Anthony said after taking a bite of his sandwich. “He’s the boss of the Lombardi Family. They run Brooklyn.”
“Really? I’ve done a deal in Brooklyn for the mob. His last name wasn’t Lombardi.”
“Yeah, that Family structure is a little different from most of ours. They’re not all blood-related like most of us are. You probably just dealt with one of the capos.”
I nodded at that as I speared some of the pasta salad. “Oh, my God,” I groaned, getting a heated stare from Anthony whose mind was likely not on things food-related. “So, why did Elio sound annoyed about the Renzo guy?”
“Up until very recently, they’ve been enemies of the other four Families in the city.”
“Why?”
“The power structure was a lot different back when Lorenzo’s asshole of a father ran shit. Back then, the Lombardis and the Espositos had a smaller kick-up, and the Morellis and D’Onofrios had a higher one. When Lorenzo took over and restructured shit based on his alliances, the other two Families took it personally, and became… if not outright enemies, then something close. We were always close to full-on war with them.”
“What changed?”
“Marriage,” he told me. “With Primo, a forced marriage. With Renzo… a sort of arranged one.”
“Forced and arranged marriages? What is this, the fucking Dark Ages?” I griped.
“I know,” he agreed. “Primo married my sister,” he admitted.
“Your sister was forced to marry a rival boss?”
“Pretty much. I mean, ultimately, she agreed. But only because Primo was going to kill everyone she loved if she didn’t.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah. But she actually fell for him. They’re happy as fuck now.”
“And what about the arranged marriage?”
“Renzo wanted a union through marriage like we have with Alessa Morelli, and like Primo Esposito has with us. He thought it was the only way to ensure that everything was fair between the Families.”
“Who did you arrange to marry him?” I asked, hearing the bitterness in my voice, and not really giving a fuck. Because making a woman in your family marry someone for a truce was fucked up beyond measure.
“My cousin Lore actually heard about it and wanted to marry him. She had a crush on him for years.”
“Oh,” I said, anger deflating. “I guess that’s not so bad then. Wait… but what about the last Family?”
“The D’Onofrios?” Anthony asked.
“Yeah.”
“What about them?”
“Don’t they want a marriage union too?”
“Eh, not so far. Who knows when the old man hands over the reins of the Family to the younger generation. But for now, they all seem happy with the arrangement they have.”
“So the Costa women are safe from men having dick-swinging contests for a while then,” I said, finishing up the rest of my sandwich, then reaching across the table to pick at Anthony’s pasta salad. “So what now? Just go back to the city and wait to hear from Elio?” I asked.
“Seems like the only real move. Though I might borrow someone else’s car and do some more stakeouts, just to know what the fucks are up to.”